Chapter 4. Strangers Meet

Mia, though was comfortable in the ridge, she felt very very lonely. The days and nights were all alike. She had her little storage of food. Lin had left behind some books and papers to keep herself busy. But she couldn't do anything much other than overthink and worry. Some time Or the other she would take out a book and flip through, other times she would scribble something and then mash the papers and throw it away disheartened. She wanted to help Lin too. She wanted to figure a way out of the mess too.She was feeling she was loosing badly at this game of waiting. She didn't want to be a liability, she wanted to be an aid, an ally.

One such lonely morning, as she paced up and down in her tiny confinement, she heard a noise. She wasn't sure what it was so she followed it to check. It took her to the opening. It was sealed with Lin's power, which was pretty strong. She saw an injured animal whining in the bush infront. She tried calling it but apparently it couldn't hear her. The animal slowly shape shifted into a very large man. He was on a lot of agony. The day set into night. She could no longer ignore his mourns. She tried pushing the barrier open. There was no luck in the beginning. She tried concentrating. All her life she had only seen immortals practice their magic, but had she ever tried it herself. This was her first time. She tried her best. But she was failing badly. The barrier seemed pretty strong. But she neither could ignore the injured person suffering infront of her. After several attempts she sat down exhausted. Then after a while she thought to herself "one last time" and barged in with all her might with closed eyes.

She opened her eyes and found herself standing outside the ridge, the barrier behind her.

"Yes! " She exclaimed in joy.

The man looked up as she composes herself again.

"Excuse me.Are you alright sir. You have been in pain all day" She asked going near him.

The man made a grunting sound that clearly showed that he was annoyed. She backed off a few steps and exclaimed "clam down sir. I come in peace. I just want to help you if you allow me"

"Who are you? " The man growled.

"Umm... I am Mia" Mia no longer knew how she should introduce herself " May I? " She asked as she bent down to examine his wounds.

He seemed rather agitated by her touch but never the less allowed her to take a look.

"These are some really serious injuries. What sort of a weapon did tear your flesh? " She asked as she went on examining the rest of his wounded body "sir try to rest a bit . I will go look for something to clean your wound and make an oinment to apply on the affected areas. "

She went ahead looking for some water source. There was one inside the barrier but she was afraid she might not be able to break out of it again if she went inside. After looking for sometimes she found a little pond under some rocks. She tore a portion of her cloth to carry the water to the injured.

"Here let me clean the wounds. Please bear with me. It might be unpleasant. " She gave him a warning but he seemed to totally ignore her. As she finished her cleaning she went ahead to see if she could find any medicinal herbs to apply on the wounds. It took her some time but she did find a handful.

"Here you go. I have been collecting these with my mother for sometimes now. Lucky that i found them here. Mr...? " She was happily mumbling but stopped mid track when she realised her patient was gone.

"How rude. He couldn't even wait for a little thanks giving " She looked here and there then decided it would be best for her to get back inside the barrier after all.

" Are you hungry? I am" She asked her baby bump " Let's go and eat then" .Her mood seemed to have cheered up immensely.

Lin, Boshu, Xie and Roe tied themselves with the ropes they assembled . They had made it with the net on which Lin and Boshu had got trapped. As they got ready to climb out a swarm of bats attacked them. Each one fought bravely. Though badly scratched and injured, they made their way out. Each helping the other.

"Now what" Roe asked huffing from the excitement.

Lin took out an ancient compass like device from his pocket.

"Wow.what is this? " Roe was excited at most things new.

"It's a family heirloom. It helps us to identify reality. " Lin explained " Once we identify the direction where reality goes, we have to travel the other way. The mirror will then take us to the other side ".

" How does your family have the reality identifier? " Xie was looking at Lin with an expression that could burn him.

"Aren't we happy that he has that. Otherwise how would we make out the real from the fake in this maze? " Roe intervened to diffuse the situation.

"The lady is correct. We must co-operate since we share the same goal" Boshu tried to help and impress Roe at the same time.

As they started walking the reality identifier began vibrating " This way" Lin pointed after checking. As they walked ahead, they came face to face with a huge silver mirror, that seemed to hold a silvery liquid inside instead of glass. All four marveled with awe.

***As they faced the silvery mirror that could transport one to the other side of reality, they each saw a different image. The mirror brought forward their deepest desire and fright. Soon the reality vanished from each of their eyes and they found themselves inside the vision they were witnessing in the mirror, facing their own deepest desires and scariest nightmares. But they were still standing where they stood apparently. None could see the other.

"What is going on? " Boshu yelled but it only came back as an echo. Some sort of sound barrier was there between each of them.

Lin found himself facing Mia. She was standing with something in her arms. As Lin approached her she started running away from him. He chased behind her calling out her name. But she didn't respond, nor did she respond until they reached the ridge. There Lin pulled her around but stepped several steps back with horror at the sight. Mia a baby in her arms covered in blood. The blood dripped from Mia's neck where the flesh was ripped off and the bone showed. The baby had a very devilish look and had the flesh in its mouth which it had bit off Mia. Lin yelled in agony. He kept calling Mia's name as he begged her to let the child go, throw it away. But she wouldn't listen. She just sat smiling and caressing the baby as it bit her off piece by piece. Lin just stood there shaking unable to do anything.

Roe had herself in front of the imperial Hall. She was all decked up in a bridal attire, complete with every jewelry possible. But as she walked she found her legs tied in huge chains, golden chains. Her hands felt heavy too. There were similar chains on her wrists too. As she stood struggling an unknown man with a big moustache, approached her. Everyone present there clapped in amazement as Roe yelled for help. The man kept approaching her and touching her inappropriately all over. She kicked and yelled, even tried to bite him off, but her chains kept becoming heavier and heavier till she could no longer stand. It made her bow down in agony and embarrassment.

Xie was standing in the middle of a battle field in his vision. He was tied in the wrong direction on the horse back. These horses were the treasures of the wolf clan. They could fly but they had no wings. Xie's horse was however not flying. It was taking him in circles. The battle drums roared but the horse wouldn't stop. Xie tried hard to control it but he found himself unable to let go of the grip he had on the animal in fear that he might be dropped. The animal however stopped all of a sudden and stared running away from the battle ground. Xie tried hard but he couldn't turn its direction. He could hear the loud roar of jeering from across the field.

Boshu found himself standing in the same spot but without his companions. As he went about calling each one by name, he realised he was inside some sort of illusion. While everyone else was engrossed in their own mental troubles, Boshu could figure certains things out. Being simple minded had it's own perks. He tried following the echo. It always came from a particular direction. As he approached he found something solid but invisible hit him.

"It must be some kind of a barrier" He thought. As he pondered over ways to break through the barrier, he remembered something. Every barrier was like a shield and specifically trial barriers like these were spherical. Being spherical it ought to have a periphery. If he could gauge that he would be able to generate the exact amount of energy wave to counter it. He immediately got to work. And surprisingly it was working. He kept expanding his field of energy till it met the requirement of that of his sphere. He was exhausting himself in the process. His nose and ear started bleeding but he kept of pushing. Finally after a few more effort the barrier did crack open and he found his friends all standing in a trance. No one responded to the huge noise the barrier made as it shattered to pieces.

He went upto each one, shook them hard but no one responded. He ran this way then to the other looking for any solution. But found none. Then he stood stopped and concentrated on what he had learnt from Lin. If anybody was inside a barrier where one could not reach physically, one could communicate through their inner self.

He immediately sat down to meditate. He gave his all to focus. As he toiled hard on his concentration he found himself standing in front of himself. There were thin threads infront of him. But they were all tangled. At the end of each thread were each of his companions. Lin's thread lead seemed like the nearest so he immediately started working on detangling it. Finally he found success as Lin opened his eyes panting from the horror he had just witnessed. Boshu calmed him down as he looked at the other two.

"I think we need to help them" Boshu urged.

Lin nodded as he closed his eyes . After a few more moments, Lin was able to untangle them successfully. It took some time for everyone to recover from the aftershock of their trials.

"Ufff... That was intense" Roe panted.

"This manifested our deepest desires and fear. We were lucky we were travelling in group. Solo travellers have been stuck in the horror for ages without anyway out. Thank you. " Xie patted Lin and Boshu on the back with appreciation for the first time on their journey.

"Don't mention it" They replied with a welcoming bow.

"Let's get going then. We still have a long way to go" Boshu said pointing towards to mirror.

"Right.we need to get to the other side of reality. Let's go" Roe jumped inside as she replied. The rest followed suit. After a few moments of intense compression, they found themselves standing on the other side.